MMMM #91: Evolving NewsPAPERS

     Come next Sunday, The Montgomery Advertiser will introduce another series of changes designed to make the Sunday paper a product even more people will want to read. Like most papers, the Sunday edition is the  most popular, and the Advertiser has apparently decided to build on that strength.
     All of the media firms, of course, are trying to figure out the new route to profitability, and attracting readers is job #1
     Advertiser Executive Editor Wanda Lloyd writes about it in today's paper. Most of the changes will be in apperance...the Opinion pages become a section cover; the second page of the first ("A") section becomes a guide to online content etc etc.

    But Lloyd is pledging even more "watchdog" type stories too, and is sending a three person crew to attend a mini-school on that subject in Tennessee. She wrote a similar column in late 2008, about jobs being shed and the trecherous waters ahead. I wanted to read that old column, but there's a single-article $3.95 charge for archives, which I fully understand. I just didn't want to pay it.
    I hope the changes help the paper not only survive, but thrive. I certainly don't want to live in the first large Alabama city to be without even one newspaper.

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CBS 8 ON THE RECORD

     The Premier of the new program is this Sunday, April 4th at 5:30, just before 60 Minutes. The Sundays between now and June are booked with candidates for Governor. Ron Sparks is up first, followed on April 18th (we'll be prempted on 4/11 by The Masters) by Artur Davis.

     After that, each of the major GOP candidates will be on, leading up to the Sunday before the June  Primary The programs are not live...we will generally tape on Friday mornings.

     Each interview is a one-on-one conversation, with opportunities for follow up questions, something that's not always possible in the shorter daily news interviews on the station.

     It has been just over a year since I hosted the final "For The Record" on APT, a special on the economy with David Bronner, Securities Commission head Joe Borg, State Banking Commissioner John Harrison and economist Keivan Deravi. I look forward to getting back into the long-form interview venue with the new show on WAKA. I hope you'll be able to watch!